Anne Fairchild Bowler (Mrs. Metcalf Bowler)

c. 1763

John Singleton Copley

Painter, American, 1738 - 1815

Shown from the knees up, a woman wearing a shimmering teal-blue gown and holding a garland of flowers stands in front of columns and a landscape in this vertical portrait painting. The woman’s body faces us, but she turns her head slightly to our left as she looks at us with dark brown eyes. Her skin is pale, nearly the color white, and she has rosy cheeks. She has an oval face, a long, thin nose, the suggestion of a double chin, and her peach-colored lips are closed. Her brown hair is pulled back under a lacy cap, and she wears dime-sized sapphire earrings rimmed with gleaming silver or diamonds. A pendant with three round sapphires and a larger, teardrop-shaped gem hangs from a choker made of thumbprint-sized sapphires. The edges of a white bow, presumably tying her hair, curl to either side of her neck. Her tight-fitting bodice has a square, lace-edged neckline and white ribbons tied down the front. Long, lacy cuffs fall from elbow-length sleeves, and the full skirt falls in vertical folds from the cinched waist. The teal fabric has a sheen, suggesting silk or satin. A pink rose as well as white, yellow, orange, and blue flowers are tied to a pink ribbon to create a garland, which she holds with both hands. Tan-colored stone columns lining the painting to either side behind her are connected by a balustrade, all of which frames a view out to a tall, light green tree and a blue sky touched with pink along the horizon. A coral-pink curtain hangs in the top right corner.

Media Options

This object’s media is free and in the public domain. Read our full Open Access policy for images.
Information on this painting can be found in the Gallery publication American Paintings of the Eighteenth Century, pages 28-30, which is available as a free PDF https://www.nga.gov/content/dam/ngaweb/research/publications/pdfs/american-paintings-18th-century.pdf
On View

West Building Main Floor, Gallery 60-B

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Gift of Louise Alida Livingston

  • Dimensions

    overall: 127.2 x 102.2 cm (50 1/16 x 40 1/4 in.)
    framed: 142.9 x 118.1 x 4.4 cm (56 1/4 x 46 1/2 x 1 3/4 in.)

  • Accession

    1968.1.1

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Susan Louisa Pendleton Bowler [Mrs. Robert Bonner Bowler, d. 1877], Cincinnati, Ohio, and Covington, Kentucky;[1] her daughter, Louisa Foote Bowler Livingston [Mrs. John Callendar Livingston, 1861-1933], New York;[2] her daughter, Louise Alida Livingston [d. 1967], Oyster Bay, New York; gift 1968 to NGA.
[1] Mrs. Bowler probably inherited the portrait from her husband Robert Bonner Bowler, the sitter's grandson, who was born in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1803 and moved to Cincinnati. They were married in 1842; Noadiah Potter Bowler, Record of the Descendants of Charles Bowler. (Cleveland, 1905), 42. The date of Bowler's death is unknown; he predeceased his wife (vital statistics file, Cincinnati Historical Society).
[2] Bowler 1905, 97; obituary, The New York Times, 16 August 1933, 17; she is called Louise in some sources.
[3] "National Gallery Acquires Its 10th Painting by Copley," The New York Times, 19 July 1968, 25.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1874

  • Possibly Exhibition of Paintings, Engravings, Drawings, Aquarelles, and Works of Household Art, in the Cincinnati Industrial Exposition, Cincinnati, 1874, no. 318, as unidentified Copley Portrait.

1889

  • Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1889-1902.

1936

  • An Exhibition of Paintings by John Singleton Copley, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1936-1937, no. 24.

1944

  • American Portraits by American Painters, Knoedler Galleries, New York, 1944, no. 7.

1963

  • American Art from American Collections, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1963, no. 181.

1965

  • John Singleton Copley, 1738-1815, National Gallery of Art, Washington; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1965-1966, no. 18.

Bibliography

1873

  • Perkins, Augustus T. A Sketch of the Life and a List of Some of the Works of John Singleton Copley. Boston, 1873: 38.

1874

  • Possibly Exhibition of Paintings, Engravings, Drawings, Aquarelles, and Works of Household Art, in the Cincinnati Industrial Exposition, Exh. cat. Cincinnati, 1874: no. 318, as unidentified Copley Portrait.

1890

  • "Contributions to the Loan Exhibitions for the Year 1889." Trustees of the Museum of Fine Arts. Fourteenth Annual Report. Boston, 1890: 46.

1892

  • Museum of Fine Arts. Catalogue of Paintings and Drawings, With a Summary of other Works of Art, Exhibited on the Second Floor. 3rd ed. Boston, 1892: 16, no. 147.

1895

  • Museum of Fine Arts. Catalogue of Paintings and Drawings with a Summary of other Works of Art, Exhibited on the Second Floor. Boston, 1895: 17, no. 155.

1910

  • Bayley, Frank W. A Sketch of the Life and a List of Some of the Works of John Singleton Copley. Boston, 1910: 22.

1915

  • Bayley, Frank W. The Life and Works of John Singleton Copley. Boston, 1915: 64.

1930

  • Bolton, Theodore and Harry Lorin Binsse. "John Singleton Copley." The Antiquarian 15 (December 1930): 116.

1936

  • An Exhibition of Paintings by John Singleton Copley. Exh. cat. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1936-1937: no. 24.

1938

  • Parker, Barbara Neville and Anne Bolling Wheeler. John Singleton Copley: American Portraits in Oil, Pastel, and Miniature with Biographical Sketches. Boston, 1938: 42-43, pl. 37.

1944

  • American Portraits by American Painters. Exh. cat. Knoedler Galleries, New York, 1944: no. 7.

1963

  • American Art from American Collections. Exh. cat. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1963: no. 181.

1965

  • John Singleton Copley, 1738-1815. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1965-1966: no. 18.

1966

  • Prown, Jules David. John Singleton Copley, vol. 1. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1966, pp. 38, 103, 156-157, 210, fig. 119, no. 978.

1970

  • American Paintings and Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1970: 44, repro., Mrs. Metcalf Bowler.

1975

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1975: 391, fig. 564.

1980

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 135, repro.

  • Wilmerding, John. American Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1980: 13, no. 3, color repro.

1981

  • Williams, William James. A Heritage of American Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1981: repro. 21, 22.

1984

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 387, no. 549, color repro., as Mrs. Metcalf Bowler.

1986

  • Yarnall and Gerdts 1986, 1: 826, no. 19985.

1988

  • Wilmerding, John. American Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art. Rev. ed. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1988: 52, no. 3, color repro.

1992

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 148, repro.

1995

  • Miles, Ellen G. American Paintings of the Eighteenth Century. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1995: 28-30, color repro. 29.

Wikidata ID

Q20178233

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